As an esthetician working in a spa, you may already benefit from your employer’s marketing efforts for the business. But here’s the secret: building your own personal brand alongside the spa’s strategy can take your career much further.
A strong online presence means clients will select you when they book. It also helps your spa, because accounts that interact with each other get algorithm love—your posts help their reach, and their posts help yours. Win-win!
So how do you make this work without feeling like social media is just another exhausting task?
The key is batching, getting the most out of your content, and reframing it as an investment in your career.
Stop Waiting for Ideas—Start Collecting Content
Before we dive into what to do with your content, let’s talk about capturing it in the first place. Waiting until you have a specific post idea before taking photos or videos is inefficient. Instead, embrace the mindset: ALWAYS. BE. CAPTURING.
You’ll become a pro: This means building quick, simple content capture into your daily routine with clients. Make sure consent is included in your intake forms and always check it—then keep it easy. A quick before-and-after shot works wonders.
Why: Everyone loves seeing the post-facial glow or a nail, brow, or lashes makeover. If you’re a medical esthetician, people love seeing a few seconds of a laser service, RF treatment, and other peeks into the treatment room.
How: Set up a tripod, clip in your phone, and let it record while you work. From just one service, you can create a year’s worth of short clips to use every few weeks (peppered between your other content). Think: masque application, extractions, cleansing, nail filing, polish reveal, a lash application timelapse.
Other ideas: And do not limit yourself to services alone. Grabbing a snack between clients? Snap it. Setting up a treatment room with a coworker? Capture a quick selfie. These little, authentic moments add personality to your feed.
You can decide later how to use this content when you batch-create weekly or monthly. But the golden rule is: capture first, curate later.
Make It Doable: Batch, Schedule, Repeat
Instead of scrambling to post something every day, set aside just 45 minutes once a week. In that time, you can:
- Brainstorm a few post ideas.
- Look at what content you have and select what to use.
- Schedule everything ahead.
Use free tools like Instagram’s scheduler (which also pushes to Facebook) to “set it and forget it.” Then, every time it posts, you can simply repost to your stories and tag your spa. That daily touch boosts visibility with almost no extra effort.
If you’re using AI for captions, just make sure to edit it so it still has your voice and personality. Oh, and that it’s actually accurate!
👉 Remember: record content in batches. One filmed facial or mani can give you dozens of short clips to use throughout the year.
Why Social Media Matters for Your Career
Social media is no longer just a place for entertainment. For serious professionals, it has become one of the most important marketing platforms…as long as you don’t use it to blatantly advertize.
Think of it not as wasted time but as career development. Posting regularly builds your brand, strengthens your client relationships, and helps you stand out in a competitive field.
And here’s the good news: it gets easier—and more fun—the more you do it. With practice, you’ll naturally develop a creative style and discover how to share your personality in a way that connects with clients.
What to Post: Keep It Real
Generational trends have shifted—people don’t want polished advertising, they want authenticity. Think of your feed as a diary of your professional life. Small, real moments are what make you relatable:
- A fun interaction with a client (with permission).
- Recreating a trending clip with coworkers.
- What you snack on between clients.
- Your nighttime skincare routine.
- Today’s weather
- A pretty drink you ordered
- Your pet
- Discovering this season’s new nail polish palette.
- A weekend hobby or the book you’re loving.
- Prepping for a vacation.
- A gym moment
- Sticker links in your stories for interactions (e.g. polls or quizzes)
These glimpses of real life show your personality, build trust, and keep clients genuinely connected to you.
Add Value With Intentional Content
As your audience expands, mix in more purposeful posts that highlight your expertise and services:
- Before/afters: Share glowing skin transformations or must-have nail designs.
- Treatment clips: Use a tripod and ring light to record facials. From one session, you can pull multiple mini-clips and add on-screen captions with quick tips when you’re doing your weekly content batching.
- Aftercare tips: Post graphics or videos explaining how to care for skin or nails. Even non-clients get curious when they see these. See our Canva guide to make them branded.
- Spa campaigns: Share your excitement for loyalty programs, promotions, or sales. These are literally designed to give your clients more value.
Work Smarter, Not Harder
Once you’ve made content, reuse it everywhere:
- Edit clips in Instagram or Canva.
- Download and post them on TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and beyond.
- Add trending music natively in each app for the best algorithm boost.
Remember, one piece of content can serve multiple platforms—you don’t need to reinvent the wheel.
It’s an Investment in You
At first, showing up on social media may feel awkward or time-consuming. But when you treat it like a small, consistent investment into your career, the benefits multiply:
- Clients recognize you and book with you.
- Your spa benefits from boosted engagement.
- You grow a personal brand that follows you wherever you go.
Consistency is the secret. Stand out without burning out—batch, schedule, and share the real you.
READ MORE: The Client Decision Funnel: Why Clients Actually Book You